Through the Desert Alone
by DesertMandala
Summary: A short metaphoric journey focusing on Gaara's growth.


A lonely figure trailed steadily through a massive stretch of desert. A crisp breeze swirled through the warm atmosphere, dusting the night air with the sand lifted by each step the traveler took. Colliding with his flesh, a shiver electrified the young man's exposed body. He grasped his pale triceps and peered with turquoise eyes into the starry sky. Where it was he was going was as much of a mystery as the galaxy itself; nevertheless he moved onward.

The fine grains of earth that shot between his burgundy roots painted the pinpoints on this barren map to nowhere. The only layer he had to bundle up with through this vulnerable journey was a thin one weaved of hatred and deceit. It didn't do much in the way of warmth; in fact he'd worn it for so long it was hard to imagine what warm even felt like, despite the high of a desert noon. All day and night he'd dwell out alone in the open. No walls to shelter him - no arms to comfort him. The desert itself was Home. The sand was all he knew: a barricade. And the only arms to extend were the uninviting ones of saguaros. His only motivation to muster a step was one uttered to him a long time ago: to never look back; move forward in this direction and this one only. He never questioned it or anything else since.  
But in an instant, that one-way glance was to shift slightly to the left, hooked in by a brilliant white flash that illuminated the upcoming distance. The boy instinctively threw up a hand to shield his unprepared vision. A jolt of adrenaline shot through him, stopping him dead in his tracks. He didn't know how to perceive this rapidly approaching force, for he had never seen anything before like it. There was no time to react- that light had overflowed and engulfed the setting before him. Dark lids slammed over his eyes in a blind shock, and like that, the wind shifted.

Thud-Thud! He could hear a bold pounding on the ground directly behind him. Whatever this was, it had decided to make an unexpected stop. Sounds of breathing like that of a large animal seeped into his hearing range.

"Hey!"

The boy's head and body snapped back directly toward that grabbing voice. His eyes shot open to behold another boy, just about his age on a big white horse.

There was something about that boy that struck awe through his senses. Not only was it the light produced by the lantern he was holding, nor the magnificence of the animal he was mounted on, but the glow illuminating from the rider himself. He was well equipped and looked like he knew exactly where he was going. The boy in the sand watched intrigued as the golden one urged the horse back in his direction. They stood parallel, but at different levels.

"You look a bit lost!" The Golden Boy announced with a charismatic tone. His grin was warm and caring. The Wall-Eyed boy stared and said nothing.

"Hmm!" The rider huffed and then turned to rummage through his supplies. "It's a bit cold, don't cha think?" He pulled out a thick wool blanket and flung it over the exposed shoulders of the boy below him.

"I was lost for a while in a forest once. I know I sure was grateful for this!"

For the first time since he could even remember, warmth and comfort shrouded the desert dweller. He grasped the soft garment in his hands and pulled it tighter around himself.

"You sure let yourself get far out to the middle of nowhere. You know, there's a nicer place that way."

He pointed back to the direction he was headed. With that, the Golden Boy grinned and clicked his tongue. The horse bolted, once again creating that powerful gust.

Watching him soar, the Wall-Eyed Boy shuffled his feet in the sand. Grounded to this earth for what was going to be eternity, he had just witnessed what it was like to fly. To be as bold and wondrous as the sky- to control the wind that he had up until now been at the mercy of- to know where to go, attend prepared and with a purpose.

He found himself faced in a whole new direction with a goal all his own. He glanced to the hoof prints left behind in the sand and by his own accord took a step forward on that same trail. From then on, the Wall-Eyed Boy would no longer be just dust in the wind, but sought to become the Wind, as well as a Shadow.


End file.
